The borough plans to buy 623 River Road, outlined in red. The star indicates the firehouse property. (Google Maps image. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Over the objections of business owners and residents, Fair Haven’s council initiated a plan Monday night to buy a River Road site, where it would create a new borough hall and police station.

Even the council’s two newest members, Democrats whose November election signaled a change in the status quo, agreed that the new facilities are “a need, not a want.” But tenants of the target building said the changes would tear at the fabric of the town.

An architect’s rendering showing the West Front Street side of the proposed project, with the existing office building at left. (Rendering by Feinberg & Associates. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A plan to build 150 apartments atop an existing restaurant and parking deck in downtown Red Bank got its first taste of public scrutiny Thursday night.

While descriptions of the project by an engineer and an architect for developer PRC Group took up most of the three-hour zoning board hearing, it became clear that the plan’s scale, and impact on traffic, are likely to be issues.

The former Sunoco property on River Road could get 14 apartments under the plan. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A vacant gas station envisioned as the site of a new Fair Haven borough hall just a year ago would instead get 14 apartments under an affordable housing settlement detailed by officials Monday night.

At a special council session held at Viola Sickles School to address the town’s legal obligation to accommodate low-and moderate-income earners, residents also heard about a plan for a two-family home to be built by Habitat for Humanity in a residential neighborhood.

Saxum relocated the proposed pedestrian plaza shown in this rendering from the Riverside Avenue side of the project to the Bodman Place side. (Rendering by MVMK Architecture. Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

One of the largest development projects in Red Bank history won planning board approval Monday night.

The OK for 210 apartments at Riverside Avenue and Bodman Place requires developer Saxum Real Estate to seek state approval for a traffic light there. But the project can go ahead even if the request fails.

Jonathan Maciel Penney speaking at last week’s West Side Community Group forum. (Photo by Ben Forest. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

In an effort to break the Democratic lock on the Red Bank council, this year’s Republican candidates have set their sights squarely on a Democratic stronghold: the West Side.

At events and in campaign literature, Allison Gregory and Jonathan Maciel Penney have sought to align themselves with minority groups and residents threatened with displacement from the West Side as a result of gentrification.

The onetime home of Big Man’s West would be razed accommodate a proposed apartment building. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Plans for a proposed 62-unit apartment project in Red Bank call for razing a building that holds a place in rock ‘n roll history: the former Big Man’s West, a concert venue owned by late saxophonist Clarence Clemons.

A rendering depicts the Bodman Place side of the proposed apartment project. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The fate of one of the largest development plans in Red Bank history remained unresolved Monday night.

At the fourth planning board hearing on the 210-unit apartment complex proposed for the site of the former VNA headquarters, attention centered largely on the wisdom of putting a public plaza on busy Riverside Avenue.